Hi there, I don't normally do a lot of cupcakes but i've been asked to make a selection of cupcakes in chocolate and vanilla - some with buttercream swirls, some without. They are going to be decorated in bright colours and designs of spots, stripes, butterflies, flowers etc.

Can you tell me please how far in advance can I make the flat fondant toppers. I've done cupcakes before with this style topper and always made them as I go along and applied while they are still soft. however cos I have so many different designs to do I wondered if I can make them all up and apply later on or will they crack if the cupcake isn't very even?. I thought maybe the other option would be to make small white ones with the designs and put on top of swirls after all? The chocolate cupcakes I thought would be best with the flat toppers as the colours are so bright and they may look lost on chocolate buttercream (especially as some are spots and stripes!)

Also any tips on making sure all the cupcakes come out the same level - how far up is it best to fill the batter?

thanks you

I make my fondant toppers a week ahead & some say you can do them before that too

Whereas to storing them I guess it depends on if you want them hard or not, I like to put them in a tupperware container to keep them moist & soft which I think in your case is better, I think its easier to apply them to the cupcakes if they re moist

If you want all your cupcakes to be the same you should definitely use a scoop. Depending on the size of the cupcakes, I put one large scoop (3Tbls) for the regular size cc. Put on middle rack & bake at 325 degrees

HTH

Cupcations - thank you so much for your advice. I'm definitely going to go with your advice of making them ahead of time and keeping in a tupperware container. I have some scoops so will have a test of what works best with the size of my cases. Thank you